TdF 2011 Wine (& Food) Challenge – the prologue

[sparky]

Welcome to the 2011 Tour de France Wine (& Food) Challenge! Ok, I know we don’t have a prologue this year but we will have that fun start on the Passage de Gois and a real road stage to get things started. Let’s hope nothing happens to delay the start or it could get quite interesting with the tide coming in.

So what am I looking forward to this year? Vino lighting a cracker or two in his final year. Stuey & Jens doing what they sadistically do best and reducing the peloton to blubbering jelly. Daniel Navarro riding tempo up the big hills. Tommeke not crashing. Cadel not crashing. The HTC train, Renshaw & Cav doing what they predictably do every time and no one being able to do anything about it. Euski in lots of breakaways. Spartacus in the ITT. Il Diablo. Movistar & Liquigas hairstyles. Big George & Thor doing anything.

This year the wine challenge is keeping on top of my cellaring space, so in a vain attempt to get through a few bottles I’m taking a slightly different tack. Plenty of Froggie bottles to roughly follow the route, with a few New World wines in the same varietals/styles as a comparison point. On top of that, my house guest chef is taking on the Tour Food challenge, so Gabriel Gate’s best are going to get a thrashing along the way as we drink, eat and cheer our way through regional France with the one and only, the Tour.

Who’s in?

[dlo]

Nice piece and I look forward to reading of your gastronomic and vinous exploits as the great race evolves.

[Michael McNally]

Hi Sparky

Not knowing very much about the Tour at all, is Cadel a show this year?

Cheers

Michael

[seddo]

Yep
Big chance especially as BMC have allowed him to chose his race program prior to the TdF
cheers
Seddo

[sparky]

Yep
Big chance especially as BMC have allowed him to chose his race program prior to the TdF
cheers
Seddo

I agree. He looks like he's in a much better space than he has been in previous years. More supportive team, better race program through the year and from all accounts fresher both physically and mentally.

HOWEVER.. this is the Tour. Anything can happen and usually does. Bert losing 1.20 on the first stage certainly being one of those things!

[seddo]

1min 17 secs up on Alberto and Andy - fingers crossed BMC have a good team TT

cheers
Seddo

[Sean]

deleted

[daz]

I'm a motorcyclist not a bicyclist........

[via collins]

What a complete freak of a stage that was.

Cadel's had some rotten luck in recent years, but the gods smiled down yesterday,
Hope that he can capitalise. A good BMC performance in the TT will cause some real nerves in the upper echelons.
He was giving Gilbert a fair shake there at the close.

[griff]

So far so good for Cadel. Probably a good thing he doesn't wear yellow for now. BMC supporting a lot better than Silence-Lotto.

[GRB]

Cadel +1sec on the flat stages and has 1:42 on Bert, couldn't have asked for more at this stage. His team don't have to beat themselves up chasing the breaks, they can sit back a watch for a couple of days.

GB

[seddo]

Stage 4 a win for Cadel and a bottle of penfolds bin 28 2004 for me - wine really opened up after 3 hrs had that chocolate saltyness that I enjoy - please no southpark comments

cheers
Seddo

[n4sir]

Stage 4 a win for Cadel and a bottle of penfolds bin 28 2004 for me - wine really opened up after 3 hrs had that chocolate saltyness that I enjoy - please no southpark comments

Like this?

[seddo]

Stage 4 a win for Cadel and a bottle of penfolds bin 28 2004 for me - wine really opened up after 3 hrs had that chocolate saltyness that I enjoy - please no southpark comments

Like this?

ah yep